ESU 4 Special Education

Welcome to the ESU 4 Special Education Webpage. You'll find information for teachers and administrators concerning special education issues and topics. There will be additional information on staff development opportunities and ILCD. Look for more information on each of the ESU 4 Special Education Departments by clicking on the department name. For specific questions, please contact Ellen Stokebrand, estokebrand@esu4.net.

SAT Webinar - November 27, 2012 @ 3:30 p.m.

Accommodations...

We all get accommodations every day. When I walk through the automatic doors at Target, I'm receiving an accommodation. I don't know about you, but I've come to expect that door to open for me. I believe that I 'deserve' it; I'm often peeved when the automatic door doesn't open right away and I have to exert the energy to push it open myself!

Think about this... most of the accommodations we use today in our daily lives were actually created or adapted from technology/supports intended to assist persons with disabilities. The idea was that the technology support people in their daily life activities so that they are not penalized for having a disability. Those automatic doors... a HUGE step forward for people with physical disabilities, yet something that benefits us all. Did we ever think "It's not fair that the person with the physical disability gets to use an automatic door and we don't?" Or rather, did we just think... Cool! and go through that door ourselves? Maybe, initially, we looked around to see if anyone was watching. And maybe we initially felt a little guilty. But now... the accommodation is so commonplace that we actually expect the doors to open.

Discussions about "Accommodations" are 'all the rage' these days... especially as we head into a new season of NeSA and NRT testing opportunities. As educators, we consistently have the conversation about who gets accommodations, when should they get accommodations, what accommodations are appropriate, and where should those be provided ...or, more importantly, who provides them... continue every day. Those who have heard me present this information, or even read it in previous editions of the ESU 4 "In-4-Mation" Newsletter, should remember that accommodations are not intended to provide any instructional or educational advantage for a student. What accommodations are intended to do is to allow the student to access the information in alternate ways or demonstrate their mastery of a subject in alternate ways. The effect of the disability on the student's performance is lessened. Accommodations do NOT reduce learning expectations. Nor do accommodations begin and end in school.

It's worth repeating...

Accommodations do not reduce learning expectations or alter the content of the material we expect students to master.

There are many factors that impact the performance of students in our classrooms. Anxiety, specifically test anxiety, happens to be the greatest factor which impacts the performance of most people involved in high stakes testing. Take the ACT... a test which most of our seniors take as they prepare to enter college. When I was in high school, the ACT was a 'one and done' proposition. It didn't matter if you were really nervous, had trouble reading the test, or had Homecoming the night before. You took the test once and the score you got was the score you got. It's different in today's 'high stakes world.' Today's high school student participates in ACT prep courses, take practice tests and often take the test more than once. All this to alleviate the issue of test anxiety... create comfort with the testing process and allow the student to demonstrate their knowledge in a high stress, high stakes environment. Our classrooms are no different. There is pressure like never before for students to have higher grades in order to rank well in their class and get better scholarships. Anxiety gets in the way... and teachers who are focused on student mastery of the information work to provide accommodations for their students to access the information or demonstrate their knowledge. Providing text on tape or orally, giving extended time on a test, front-loading a longer and more complicated project or paper, allowing students to provide oral answers after initially taking the test, giving students alternative options for a project as opposed to a term paper... all are ways to allow the student to demonstrate their knowledge while reducing the anxiety. Think about this as you think about accommodations that reduce anxiety and lessen the impact of reading and writing on a student's performance... in today's discussion of using student achievement to evaluate teacher performance, allowing accommodations to access information and demonstrate mastery, supports increased student achievement.

One of the biggest concerns that impact a student's performance is their reading ability. The use of accommodations is intended to reduce the negative impact that a reading disability might have on their performance. Preteaching vocabulary, reading directions, having students repeat directions, highlighting (and teaching students how to highlight) along with reading the questions on assignments and tests are all effective ways to lessen the impact of the student's reading disability. However, there is a caution here when we are giving NeSA and NRT tests (MAPS, Terra Nova, etc.) in the areas of reading comprehension. While it is not appropriate to read the passages aloud to the students, it is appropriate to read the questions about the passage to the student. If we were to read the passages, we would be changing the intent of the test from evaluating a student's reading comprehension skills to that of evaluating their listening comprehension skills. However, that doesn't hold true for the questions about the passage... those may be read aloud to the student.

One final concern that often impacts student performance is that of the 'noise on the page.' Because of eyesight or vision issues, having black print on white paper is often hard on the eyes. Using pastel colored tones (buff and lilac seem to be the best according to some research), reduces the glare and allows the students to relax and reduce anxiety when reading/completing tests and worksheets. Reducing the number of questions on each page is also an effective way to reduce the 'noise.' Sometimes, in our efforts to save trees, we cram too much onto one page. I think of this every time that I print 6 powerpoint slides on a page rather than 3! It's often too 'noisy.' By reducing the number of questions and increasing the amount of space on a page, we again reduce the anxiety and allow students to demonstrate mastery of the subject matter. Now, there's nothing we can do about bubble sheets... they are what they are. But maybe, we could create a 'guide' that would allow students to cover the bubble sheet with another page, highlighting only a small number of responses. We're reducing the noise and chunking the test into portions that will reduce anxiety. Again, increased mastery equals increased achievement. It's a 'win-win.'

You'll notice as you read this, that I'm only focusing on those accommodations which seem to impact assessment and classroom tests the most. There's a reason for that. This is what is high stakes... for our students, ourselves, and our districts. And, the final question... who can have the accommodations? The answer is simple... who ever needs them. We know that providing appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities is required. Did you also know that you could provide accommodations for a student through the SAT? Or that if you were positive that a student knew the material but didn't test well? Again, the idea is not to give the student an advantage, but rather to support their efforts to demonstrate mastery. And, not every accommodation is appropriate for every student. Not every student will need an accommodation. And, not every accommodation will be needed every time. This is where your expertise as an educator is so crucial. You know your students. You know what they know by how they participate in class and complete their daily work. You know...

Accommodations are a tricky thing but they are not rocket science. I can hear it though... the "It's not fair" argument. Or the "I have to treat every student equally." Here's the deal... what's fair is not equal and what's equal is not fair. It's as simple as that. Nothing more... nothing less. Think about that the next time you walk through the automatic doors at Target...

Friday, July 20, 2012

ESU 4 Special Education...

Continue the Revolution in Education You don't have to be great to get started...But you DO have to get started to be GREAT!

-- Unknown

ESU 4 Special Education...

Continue the Revolution in Education

You don't have to be great to get started...But you DO have to get started to be GREAT!

-- Unknown

Fall Updates and Information for Special Education Teachers and Administrators in ESU 4...

1) IEP Meeting Notices... the debate continues! On Friday, September 28th, NDE announced that after receiving a great deal of feedback on the proposed changes to Rule 51 requiring names be identified on the IEP meeting notice, that they will be changing that requirement. The federal law actually (only) requires positions to be identified on the IEP meeting notice, which is actually what is currently written in Rule 51. In their draft update of Rule 51, they had recommended that the requirement include names as well as positions. Feedback was provided from a variety of sources to NDE and those who are writing the new proposed draft. The amount and intensity of the feedback was such that NDE decided to reconsider this additional requirement and proceed with the original "positions only" requirement. So... you may identify positions on the IEP meeting notice; names are not required. However, I would caution you to make sure that you have invited all those teachers/professionals that the parent would want at the IEP meeting. Positions that are identified on the IEP meeting notice will need to be filled on the IEP signature page. Names do need to be on the signature page as well.

2) NESA Assessment updates for Special Education teachers...

The Accommodations document on the NDE website has been updated as of November 2011. If you do not have this update, please download it from the NDE Assessment/Accommodations page, accessible via the Assessment or Special Education pages. (http://www.education.ne.gov/assessment/NeSA_Accommodations.htm)

Districts are required to make their request for how students are participating in the NeSA Assessment. Students with disabilities will be able to have the paper/pencil option, especially if the IEP team determines that it will most likely take more than 2 days for that student to complete the test. This must be determined by the IEP team and is to be written into the student's IEP. So, if a student is going to take the NeSA reading test with paper/pencil, the NeSA Math test using the online format and the science test using the paper/pencil format, this needs to be on the IEP and reported to NDE. This report is due to NDE by October 19th. Work with your district assessment coordinator to identify which students should be using the online or paper/pencil format. In addition, students taking the alternate assessment also need to be reported on October 19th as well.

3) And finally... Rule 51 and the new Rule 52 (for Part C/0-2 Early Intervention Services) are being finalized in preparation for the November or December State Board of Education meetings. After the board approves the drafts, there is time for public comments and the revisions based on those comments. The board will provide their final approval for the Rules, which then sends them over to the Attorney General's office for the AG's approval as well as the approval of the Governor. Once the Governor signs the Rules, we will be sharing that information, as new Rules will then be in effect. Just a note, because Rule 52 is all federal language, we are to be following the major components of that rule now. If you have any questions on Rule 52, please let me know. We have been sharing this information with the Early Childhood Cadre as well as special education administrators and superintendents.

We just returned from this year's State ASD Conference. Each year, the conference planners seem to out do themselves... it was a terrific conference once again! ESU 4 had teachers, paras and administrators attend from the following districts... Auburn, ESU 4, Falls City, HTRS, Johnson County Central, Lewiston, NCECBVI, Nebraska City, and Syracuse. The ESU 4 Special Education Continuous Improvement grant (SE-CIP) supported the attendance of parents from HTRS, JCC, Pawnee City and Syracuse.

Among the highlights was an afternoon that many of us spent with Dr. John Maag, of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. His session titled, "I Can't Make You: Attitude Shifts and Derailments for Resistance" was a reminder of how simple dealing with resistant behave really can be. While dealing with behavior is NOT rocket science, it may be more important that rocket science. Much of what Dr. Maag talked about were things we already knew but had somehow forgotten in the day to day business of working with kids and adults. Here are some of the highlights from my (very messy!) notes...

When we experience change or a paradigm shifts, we automatically go "Back to Zero"... we are resistant to the change and our attitudes general get reset. We begin to experience "Paradigm Paralysis," which means we can't get past the change.

Fair is not equal and equal is not fair. It is physically and emotionally impossible to treat everyone the exact same way. And treating everyone the same is really not desirable. According to Dr. Maag, 'fair' is the place where you take your pig to show. It's not a consideration when dealing with important and frustrating behavior.

"Discipline" and "Punishment" are not synonyms, however, they are terms which are often used interchangeably.

When is comes to discipline or punishment, more of the same rarely works. The question is this... if a teacher asks a student to do something 100 times, and each time the student refuses and does not comply, then who is really the slow learner? (Hint: It's the teacher.)

Resistance on the part of the student generally originates from the behavior of the adult. In many cases, resistance is actually 'adult driven behavior.'

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER get into a power struggle with a student. The moment you begin that power struggle, you (the adult) have lost. You are trying to maintain control, when in actuality, the minute the power struggle begins, you've lost control and really have no way to gain it back. This is one of the hardest rules to remember in dealing with behaviors... power struggles happen to the best of us, generally at our worst times!

Anger is a secondary emotion. Generally, anger is exhibited when the emotion is really inadequacy, hurt, depression, sadness, etc.

If you give up a little control, you gain a whole lot of credibility. That's more important than power any day!

Dealing with resistant behavior is all about creating rapport rather than maintaining power.

As the adult, we must be able to adopt new patterns of behavior. We have more knowledge about behavior than we let ourselves know. Dr. Maag recommends that we allow ourselves to be creative in dealing with behavior. His exact words were "be comprehensive and unrestricting with your behavior."

Dealing with behavior can often be like riding a dead horse. We've all seen the staff development associated with trying to make the dead horse work... the best advice is just to STOP RIDING THE DEAD HORSE!

2011-2012 Webinars:

The links to the webinar recordings are below as are the links for the handouts for each of the webinars. The handouts are hosted by DropBox. If you have any questions about accessing either the webinar recordings or the handouts, please let me know. The SAT webinar was not recorded, however, there may be an opportunity to participate in a 2nd SAT webinar, which will (hopefully!) be recorded!

Wow... Spring has just sprung and once again, I'm found wondering... where did the time go? It's a question I seem to ask myself more and more. Each fall, I begin the school year with very ambitious goals and the enthusiasm that I will be able to meet each one with little or no difficulty. As a special educator, I really struggle at writing goals that are achievable within one school year.

As part of ESU 4's School Improvement Process, we completed the external AdvancEd visit in September of 2010. As part of the process, the external team provided recommendations for us as we continue our improvement process. One of those recommendations was to develop and share our vision for the future. It was shortly after the September visit that the statement "Courageously leading a dynamic revolution in education" was created. Several times during the past year, the ESU 4 Special Education staff has met to determine exactly what our dynamic revolution might be and how we would courageously lead it. As we look toward the future, we recognize that there might be the need to provide additional staffing to meet the needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and students with behavior and mental health issues. We might need to expand roles so that there is new expertise to support students with ASD, Down Syndrome, or mental health concerns. Maintaining and upgrading technology and educational materials is and will continue to be a challenge; however, it's importance in helping us to lead that dynamic revolution in education is crucial.

As we look 5 years down the road, our vision is that everyone involved in each of the districts of ESU 4 is completely aware of all the services and programs that ESU 4 has to offer teachers, parents, students and communities. Our dream is that people know the faces behind the name of ESU 4, recognizing who we are and what we do. Our goal is to support our districts by creating programs that will meet future needs. Our vision is that ESU 4 is considered to be a collaborative member of the Southeast Nebraska Community. As we look at the calendar, it seems that 5 years is a long way down the road. We all know the reality that time flies. But the time to work on our 5-year plan is now.

To that end, I've posted two surveys at the top of this blog. One is a survey asking for your input on the staff development needs of teachers concerning special education. Staff development in the areas of behavior, ILCD and special education updates continue to top the list. What will top the list for 2012-2013? The second survey is an evaluation of the services provided by the ESU 4 Special Education department. Both of these surveys are annual events... the information is taken and analyzed as an important part of our data. While there isn't a direct link to student performance, there is a clear link to school improvement. Without that evaluation, we won't be able to measure our progress in fulfilling our vision. How will we lead a dynamic revolution in education? What will we look like in 5 years? We're not completely sure, but we do know this... we will be working hard to get there. Join us now... before time gets too far away from us! Have a terrific Spring!

2011-2012 Webinars:

The links to the webinar recordings are below as are the links for the handouts for each of the webinars. The handouts are hosted by DropBox. If you have any questions about accessing either the webinar recordings or the handouts, please let me know. The SAT webinar was not recorded, however, there may be an opportunity to participate in a 2nd SAT webinar, which will (hopefully!) be recorded!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

ESU 4 Special EducationVision: Courageously leading a dynamic revolution in Education!

The mission of ESU 4 is to improve student learning through a commitment to communication, accountability and leadership.

"Like" ESU 4 Special Education on Facebook

What's Happening at ESU 4?

There will be quite a few opportunities for Professional Development for Special Education teachers in ESU 4 districts. While the many of the opportunities are in the Webinar format, we are planning a full day workshop on Monday, February 20th at the ESU 4 Learning Center in Auburn. We haven't been together as a group for a year or so... it will be good to re-connect and re-establish our networks. This Special Education Update will focus on the IEP, as well as hosting a positive and collaborative IEP meeting. There is more information about the Feb 20th workshop as well as other ESU 4 Sped offerings below this little article on this blog. Information may also be found on the "ESU 4 Special Education Workshops" link under the "Special Education" tab on the ESU 4 Homepage. And finally, to register for any or all of these opportunities, you must log on to the ESU 4 Registration website!

As in the past, ESU 4's SCIP grant will support the attendance of parents, administrators, teachers, para-educators and other professionals at the Annual Autism Conference. This year's conference will be held in Lincoln at the Cornhusker Hotel. The focus of the event will be on Early Childhood. Therefore, those involved with early childhood programs will get first priority in attending this conference. I expect that registration for this year's conference will close quickly! The dates are Thursday and Friday, April 12th and 13th. Watch for emails concerning registration for this conference.

Stay tuned for additional opportunities and updates! The "NeSA Season" will be soon upon us! Accommodations for students with disabilities will be hot topics. Mitzi, Suzanne and I hope to post a QuickTime video answering basic questions about accommodations on the NeSA for all students, as well as students with disabilities and ELL students, on the ESU 4 website. Stay up-to-date with NDE's advice and guidance by checking out resources on the NDE Special Education website... http://www.education.ne.gov/sped/nesa.html.

In the future, I'm hoping to post "Questions and Answers" on this blog; having this resource might be valuable! I don't know about you, but I'm always looking the same things up over and over again. My goal is to give you one spot to refer! Until then... I look forward to seeing you in my travels across the ESU, as well as on the internet! Have a terrific February...

2011-2012 Webinars:

The links to the webinar recordings are below as are the links for the handouts for each of the webinars. The handouts are hosted by DropBox. If you have any questions about accessing either the webinar recordings or the handouts, please let me know. The SAT webinar was not recorded, however, there may be an opportunity to participate in a 2nd SAT webinar, which will (hopefully!) be recorded! Special Education File Review Webinar: Getting our Files in Shape! (12/8/2011)Webinar Link

ØESU 4 Special Education Update – Monday, February 20, 2012 @ ESU 4 Learning Center, 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Agenda will include Updates in special ed, Writing an appropriate IEP (including the PLEP, goals, and objectives/benchmarks), Hosting a productive IEP meeting, and more! Registration will be on the ESU 4 registration website. Information will be sent out in the newsletter and via email.

ØEastern Nebraska Transition Conference – Tuesday, March 20, 2012 @ SECC - 84th & O Campus, Lincoln. This conference is intended for students with disabilities who are planning to go on to college and post-secondary training. There will be two strands. Juniors and Seniors with disabilities only. Registration is due from the schools to ESU 4 by January 6th; I have to submit our registrations to LPS by Friday, January 13th.

ØESU 4-5-6 Behavior Series featuring Dr. Kaye Otten – Thursday, March 29, 2012, @ Sheridan Lutheran Church, Lincoln. Registration is available on ESU 4 Registration Website. There will be a follow-up webinar to support the Q&A from this workshop featuring Matt McNiff, ESU 5.

Friday, August 19, 2011

ESU 4 Special Education
Vision: Courageously leading a dynamic revolution in Education!The mission of ESU 4 is to improve student learning through a commitment to communication, accountability and leadership."Like" ESU 4 Special Education on Facebook

ESU 4 Special Education is changing it's blog!

Updates, special education staff development opportunities and Q&A will be posted on this site!

ØESU 4 Special Education Update – Monday, February 20, 2012 @ ESU 4 Learning Center, 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Agenda will include Updates in special ed, Writing an appropriate IEP (including the PLEP, goals, and objectives/benchmarks), Hosting a productive IEP meeting, and more! Registration will be on the ESU 4 registration website. Information will be sent out in the newsletter and via email.

ØEastern Nebraska Transition Conference – Tuesday, March 20, 2012 @ SECC - 84th & O Campus, Lincoln. This conference is intended for students with disabilities who are planning to go on to college and post-secondary training. There will be two strands. Juniors and Seniors with disabilities only. Registration is due from the schools to ESU 4 by January 6th; I have to submit our registrations to LPS by Friday, January 13th.

ØESU 4-5-6 Behavior Series featuring Dr. Kaye Otten – Thursday, March 29, 2012, @ Sheridan Lutheran Church, Lincoln. Registration is available on ESU 4 Registration Website. There will be a follow-up webinar to support the Q&A from this workshop featuring Matt McNiff, ESU 5.